Tour de France – REST DAY

Most of the riders stayed outside Niort in what appeared to be one star facilities.  The bedrooms were so tiny that many riders dragged their mattresses outside and slept on the grass.  It was certainly much cooler this way as it was nearly 40C in the rooms and of course no rooms had any air conditioning.  There wasn’t enough room for our whole SATS contingent which had now grown to 16 people due to parents, friends and support staff who had joined us to watch the concluding stages, so several of us opted for an alternate hotel in downtown Niort.  I should emphasise downtown as this hotel was on the main drag and it was so noisey.  I don’t think I slept a wink.

The room Bob and I stayed in looked over 200 years old.  It had an ornate 4 poster beds, fancy carved bedside tables, French windows (ie I guess all windows in France could be called this!!), flowered wallpaper and a very old antique looking bathroom.  However, because it was so old, air conditioning was a wishful extra and I estimated it was about 43C inside.  I lay on top of the sheet, sweating and listening to the trucks roar by.

During the day, all the riders moved to an empty boarding school (as it was the holiday period in France) which was going to be our home for the next two days.  There was an above ground pool and shady trees so it was a step up from last night.  Interestingly, the French team chose not to stay at the school and received a fine from the UCI for seeking other accommodation.  I continue to be amazed at what cyclists get fined for doing.  Most teams decided to do massages outdoors under the shady trees and to anyone passing by they would have been amazed to see half naked women lying on these tables, flaunting flesh and funny suntan lines, but we didn’t care – we just wanted a rub to encourage the legs to ride 5 more stages.

Climbing stairs is always my indicator of how the legs are doing and today I had to climb them really slowly.  I felt so hammered today and was gratefully that we didn’t have to race today.

The school canteen food was tolerable and I only ate it because I was so hungry.  I soaked the stale bread in gravy and washed it down with plenty of chilled water.